On a farm filled with many beautiful animals, we meet Toto, a rooster who is about to receive some exciting and life-changing news. Toto is now a father to two beautiful young baby eggs, Uly and Max. In this animation, eggs come to life when the farm owners aren’t around; they have feet, hair, arms, and eyes, and they can even talk! Naturally, Toto’s new children are excited to get out and do some sightseeing, but Toto is highly protective of them and doesn’t want any harm to come to them; after all, they’re just eggs. Toto’s partner encourages him to relax and teach his newborn eggs to be careful.
Sadly, Toto’s excitement is short-lived as something horrible is about to occur. A mysterious Russian woman named Duchess, who collects eggs, enters the town with a personal mission. She’s been collecting rare eggs for a long time, and next up on her list is a fabulous pair of golden eggs (Uly and Max). Nothing will stop her from getting these eggs. When Duchess approaches the farm owner, she offers a high price for Toto’s eggs, but when the owner refuses, this only outrages her. Soon, Toto’s eggs are stolen by Duchess, who plans on using them for a gourmet meal in Africa for a group of wealthy people. Toto will do everything he can to rescue his children and launches a rescue mission. Some of his fellow farm animals join him, journeying with him to Africa, overcoming many wacky and crazy hurdles to rescue his baby eggs before it’s too late.
Little Eggs: African Rescue is an animation feature best suited for relatively young audiences. Despite this, some scenes may seem frightening for younger audiences, especially the villains and some of the larger animals who appear. Many fun animals, random jokes and one-liners fill the runtime. Parents will find the film’s start bearable, but as the story moves forward, some moments and gags will be painful. Watching our leading heroes compete in a TV show or seeing Toto forced to battle a large lion are just some moments that are undoubtedly torturous for an adult to witness.
Moments of comedy are also questionable, even more so watching as a parent with youngsters. Some examples include Toto yelling “Frog off!” at a Frog, seeing a hyena continually laugh about losing his wife (as hyenas do), a substantial quantity of fluff jokes, and a man running to a toilet due to having a bad meal (aka diarrhoea). Thankfully, some jokes do land a laugh and are clever. There are moments of creativity here, too, such as the various eggs that come alive when no one is around (like in Toy Story). I liked that each egg differed from the other, each having fun characteristics which is done for laughs, e.g. Crocodile eggs are cool and charming, and peacock eggs are beautiful. Villains here are typical and nothing new. Duchess is a fun and evil villain; her accomplices are complete bumbling fools making many errors throughout the film.
The musical score was excellent and exceeded my expectations. It’s incredibly majestic and highly fitting throughout, and the music here gives the film hype and excitement. Adding to this is the outstanding audio track. The sound effects are strong, and the voice work, for the most part, is excellent. Animation, as expected, is generally hit-and-miss. Some animals look great, while others lack definition and look somewhat bland. Human characters, apart from the villain, are a weaker aspect of the visuals.
Overall, as you may expect, this is a fun feature for younger audiences. Parents, I’m sorry, but after the first act, you may find this one to be a bit of a rotten egg to sit on, given some gags and unnecessary subplots that fill the runtime. Surprisingly enough, the musical score and sound effects are great, and the voice work is also acceptable for the most part. Despite an animation style that’s hit and miss, I’m optimistic that all youngsters will find plenty to admire and giggle about here. Little Eggs: African Rescue (2021) is Available in Australian Cinemas from December 1st.
3.7/10
29th November 2022
Written by Peter Walkden
WALKDEN ENTERTAINMENT
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